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A quick three-minute look at the Chrysler Sno Runner (later renamed Snow Rabbit), made from 1979 to 1982, using a Chrysler one-cylinder engine...
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0:00
Hi, this is Dave from Motel and I'm here
0:02
to talk about a small vehicle. Chrysler
0:04
smallest. Even though they did make the
0:06
Sim Camila meal, this is smaller than
0:08
that and it is called the Snowrunner.
0:10
And they probably made it just because
0:12
they already owned Westbend, the
0:14
outboard motor company. So, they already
0:16
had a single cylinder two cycle engine
0:18
called the PowerB820 rated at a whole 8
0:21
horsepower generated from 8.2 cubic in
0:25
or around a tenth of a liter. Adding on
0:27
a muffler dropped it to about 7
0:28
horsepower in the Snowrunner, which was
0:30
basically a sort of snow motorcycle. The
0:33
Snowrunner was uh made and sold by
0:36
Chrysler Marine, which was used to
0:38
relatively small runs, and the frame was
0:40
made of aluminum tubes welded together,
0:42
which meant that the 1 and a3 gallon
0:44
gasoline tank was actually part of the
0:46
frame, avoiding the need for a separate
0:48
tank. They had a single speed with a
0:50
clutch and a chain drive and a 63in long
0:53
powered track which was metal covered in
0:57
rubber. The skis, two of them were made
0:59
of fiberglass. They had a little
1:00
alternator. They had headlights with low
1:02
and high beams and they had one tail
1:04
light and in case of trouble, the driver
1:07
could immediately kill the engine with a
1:09
kill switch on the handlebar. Brake
1:10
acted on the clutch housing and was
1:12
activated from a bicycle style squeezer.
1:16
It was run like a motorcycle with a
1:18
twist style throttle. When you wanted to
1:21
move it to a mountain, you could uh
1:23
unset quick release pins and fold it up
1:26
so it would fit into a small trunk. And
1:28
it weighed 71 lb. So you and a friend or
1:31
if you're strong, you could just toss it
1:34
into the trunk. Did not have an electric
1:37
starter, just a bull cord. If you can
1:38
pick up a 71 lb bike, you don't really
1:41
need a electric starter. And it had a
1:43
top speed of 25 m an hour with a 3-hour
1:46
range. Kind of pricey. It sold for $699
1:50
according to Hagerty, which works out to
1:53
about $3,300. Now, an exhibit at the
1:56
Chrysler Nationals claimed it was $645.
1:59
So, they might have discounted it at
2:00
some point or they might have raised the
2:02
price over time. Ronnie Shriber, who
2:04
wrote the Hagerty article, laid most of
2:06
the blame for the low sales of about
2:09
28,000 of them. So, it's not that low
2:11
sales, but he he said that the lack of
2:14
power was an issue because it was not as
2:17
good in snow as it could have been with
2:19
more power. And he pointed to the
2:21
enthusiast community, which still exists
2:24
and can boost the power quite a bit,
2:25
enough to get you up to 40 mph.
2:27
Snowrunner.com is still selling new old
2:30
stock parts and upgrades. As it happens,
2:33
we would normally think that this was a
2:35
successful product since they made
2:36
28,000 of them from 1979 into 1982,
2:40
except that at the end, they sold quite
2:42
a few of them as surplus items to a
2:44
liquidator, and they were relabeled the
2:45
Snow Rabbit for under $300.
2:49
So, we suspect that Chrysler lost a good
2:51
deal money on them, especially given the
2:53
advertisements that they ran for it.
2:54
Anyway, this is Dave from Motel uh
2:57
talking about a small vehicle with a
2:59
small video and I invite you to see
3:01
history as it happens, so to speak, or
3:04
news as some would say at motel.com/now.
3:08
Ow.
#Classic Vehicles
#Winter Sports
#Custom & Performance Vehicles